took 30 minutes for the water to accumulate and because there was so much debris that had piled up, the waterway was blocked and everything started backing up.

“The rain was pouring hard, causing an overflow,” Taase reported, adding that flooding is not a common occurrence on their campus.

Another FHS official explained that debris including banana leaves and coconuts had piled up overtime and by 9:30 a.m. yesterday, the campus was flooded, both outside and in some of the ground level classrooms.

The debris was cleared by school janitors, teachers, and FHS staff with the help of several students.

The student body was instructed to gather in the gym, which is at a higher elevation, to await a decision on whether or not they were to return to class or go home.

Per protocol, Taase said he had to file an incident report with the DOE main office and they had to await approval from the DOE’s secondary division before releasing the students. He said once the approval was granted, they had to contact the school bus drivers so the students can be transported home.

“We didn’t want to release the kids and have them standing around on the road in the rain,” he said.

According to Taase, one of the buildings that flooded (Bldg. D) will be torn down and rebuilt, at a higher elevation.